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Rev Your Engine

My husband, Troy, is a huge car fanatic, so for Valentine's Day I thought I'd treat him to a day totally devoted to automobiles (this is a big deal, as I would rather do about a hundred other things besides look at cars). The day turned out to be one of our best Valentine's ever and I'd love to share the details with you.

When we woke up Valentine's Day morning (which was luckily a Saturday), I told my husband I needed to run out for an hour or so and I'd be right back. I think he was surprised that I wasn't the one lying in bed waiting for romantic gestures to start the day. I figured it was his turn to be spoiled. I drove over to the rental car agency I had reserved a car with and picked up a black convertible Porsche (we live in California and it was a sunny day). We had the car until 8:00 p.m. I felt pretty cool driving it home and couldn't wait to see the expression on my husband's face when he saw it.

I ran into the house, excited to start our day (I had a lot planned), and was greeted with the delicious smell of coffee and cinnamon toast. My husband sat at the kitchen table smiling, happy I hadn't returned with breakfast. Let's go, I said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him up. Where? He wanted to know, looking puzzled that I would pass up cinnamon toast. I told him to just get his shoes on and he would see. I grabbed my camera on the way out and stopped him just before closing the door. Get ready to rev your engine, I whispered in his ear.

Troy's jaw dropped when he saw the Porsche. Don't get too excited, I said, we only have it for the day. I tossed him the keys and away we went.

Even though he was in the driver's seat, I told Troy I was the pilot and to please follow my directions. We set off on the freeway, feeling exhilarated as the wind blew our hair and the sun shone in our eyes. I gave instructions to take the next off ramp and steered Troy into an exotic car dealership. Let's test drive some of them, I suggested, and Troy was more than game.

Driving up in a Porsche, we felt more secure browsing around such expensive automobiles. We would never have stopped at this dealership otherwise. That's whatmade it so special and fun. There were Lamborghini's, Lotus's, and Ferrari's. My husband was in car heaven and wanted to touch and sit in all of them. But the one that really got his attention was a bright yellow Viper Coupe. A salesman approached us, and acting cool, we asked if we could take it for a test drive. Five minutes later, my husband was driving the car of his dreams. Unfortunately I couldn't go with him because it's only a two-seater, but I snuck a picture of him behind the wheel. When they returned, Troy politely and confidently asked to drive one more – a Lamborghini – and they sped away once more. We browsed a bit more, then took the salesman's business card and said our thanks. We giggled as we left and got into “our' sports car.

We visited a Jaguar dealership next so that I could go for a ride too. What a smooth ride! We were having such a good time that we couldn't resist stopping at the Hummer dealership next and driving a black Hummer 2 with all the bells and whistles. It felt like being in a tank and I became indestructible woman – shirking my safety duties and removing my seatbelt (shh, don't tell) so I could move around the huge backseat. If Troy ever felt his masculinity soar, today was the day, let me tell you.

Back in the Porsche, Troy thanked me for making the day so great. We went to a fast food drive-thru for lunch so that we could spend more time in the car. We ate burgers and fries and drank thick chocolate shakes under a big tree in the restaurant parking lot. It was perfect.

Next, we drove into the city and visited the automotive museum. We had never been and even I enjoyed seeing all the different cars, especially the classics. The museum offered a self guided audio tour that was very informative and enjoyable. I took some pictures of Troy next to his favorite autos and we got a picture together inside the Batmobile.

We drove home after the museum and I told Troy to wait in the car while I ran in for a few minutes. I grabbed us some jackets, a blanket, and a picnic dinner I had prepared the day before. I got back to the car and told Troy to drive to the lake near our home so that we could sit under the stars and eat dinner. It was getting a little chilly, but we kept the top down while we feasted on fried chicken, coleslaw salad, shrimp cocktail, and Hawaiian sweet rolls with apple butter. For dessert I packed Troy's favorite, German chocolate cake. I also brought a thermos with hot chocolate that I had quickly whipped up when I ran into the house. We sipped it while reclining in the car seats and reminiscing about our day.

There was about an hour left until 8:00 and I asked Troy to put the roof back on. I shuffled everything to the back of the car and leaned over to kiss my husband. My plan was to really get his engine revving now and let's just say we hit maximum speed.